Tomb Raider: Screaming with dignity

One of the more…let’s say disturbing entries this year for E3 is definitely the new Tomb Raider reboot.

Honestly I was pretty into the idea of a new Tomb Raider and the Uncharted-inspired gameplay is a great choice for the modern era (but secretly I hope they keep some of the acrobatic puzzles that made the originals so endearing). Anyway, gameplay, dark visuals and creepiness aside, what’s actually disturbing about the new Tomb Raider is its nearly masochistic approach. Consider this: Lara Croft has long been the go-to for female sexuality in video games, so to watch this new version of Lara basically get slapped around the game screaming at every turn just feels downright weird.

Hearing a girl scream has a naturally unnerving feel to it and I just don’t know if that’s what Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics were going for. I get that they want Lara to have some faults, that she can feel pain and maybe that she’s even a little battered (and man they really nailed that battering thing as far as I can tell), but Lara is suppose to be our female hero figure after all. So hearing scream after scream, grunts and moans all on top of it just downright makes me uncomfortable. Its hard to say right now, but if they don’t tone it down a bit I’ll probably have a hard time playing this thing when it finally gets released.

Hit the jump for a preview of the game and the squeamish E3 gameplay presentation.

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About Ryan Saul

Hailing from Portland, OR I work by day and blog by night. I like to consider myself a video game connoisseur, playing as many new things as I can get my hands on. Its hard to hold me down to one game for very long before I move on to the next big thing. Luckily, that works pretty well in terms of video game blogging.